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As I was reading this and I got down to #4, this was my thought process as I read it:
1) "Hugga Bunch? I don't remember that at all. Seems pretty kooky."
2) "Wait... magical de-aging berries that disappear if they touch the ground? That sounds... vaguely famailiar..."
3) *sees the picture of the queen keeling over and immediately dying of old age* "O_O Oh no! It can't be! I know I've seen that before!"
4) "And, yes, the berries ended up disappearing when they spilled to the ground! I... remember this. I watched this as a child!"
5) "NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
Actually, it wasn't all that bad from what I vaguely recall of it now, but I do remember it being a bit on the disturbing side, sure enough. I might actually watch it again when I get home this evening.
(EDIT)
So, I'm going to watch this and, just for the heck of it, take notes here (translation: make fun of it) while doing so.
Part 1:
0:35 - What is this little girl's accent? I can't quite place it. It sounds kind of Southern, maybe, but... not really? *shrug*
2:00-2:30 - Man they treat Grandma like crap...
2:40-2:45 - "Andrew's into electronic junk and baseball like all his friends." And that's bad... why?
3:05-3:45 - She's very nonchalant about strange noises coming out of her mirror.
3:52-3:54 - What a bitch.
5:02-5:55 - So, let's see: A pancake, three strawberries, a fried egg, three strips of bacon, maple syrup, and another pancake with peanut butter on it, slapped together to form some kind of monstrous sandwich. I am... intrigued by this. Torn between 1) sharing the brother's reaction of disgust and incredulity and 2) wanting to actually try it myself at the first available opportunity.
6:12-6:25 - "They're putting her out to pasture. Like a horse that's too old for anything, so they just put 'em in a field, let 'em eat and enjoy their life, until they get old and die." Wow, that's pretty harsh, especially coming from a kid that young.
7:05 - And then she goes off without taking even a single bite of that ridiculous pancake sandwich she made. That makes me sad, in a way. Then again, the eggs actually looked kind of fake when she was sliding them off the plate, so maybe it wasn't actually real food.
Part 2:
0:12 - The monkey's name is Garfabo? Eh, makes about as much sense as Sweet William for the penguin.
0:50-0:55 - Those are some of the weakest cries for help ever. I'd have been shrieking like a baby and running out of the house, maybe looking for a gun or a big rock or something along the way. >_>;
1:03 - And now she's apparently totally fine with the freakish abomination climbing out of her mirror. Okay. It's a kids' show. MST3K Mantra.
1:23-1:30 - She's apologizing to the horrifying nightmare for losing it when it came through the mirror. Okay.
1:33-1:40 - Mirrors soften up when people hug. Wow. You learn something new everyday. Bellisario's Maxim.
2:08-2:15 - From fleeing in abject terror from the terrifying munchkin to hugging it and giggling, in the span less than two minutes.
2:20 - It (and yes, I'm going to keep calling the Hugga Bunch things "it") just called a hug a "a real honest clenching clinger." Sounds more like something one would experience while sitting on the toilet. o_O
2:44-2:52 - Um, this girl has trouble with words like "criminy" and "crisis". It's certainly not helpful to start speaking an entirely different language to her.
3:01 - "I'll charm his teeth right out of his gums!" o_O
3:01-3:14 - No, seriously, this is starting to get creepy on a whole different level, one that wouldn't even have registered to me as a kid. o_O
3:57 - Really? You honestly think your brother, who has displayed nothing but dislike and disdain for you the entire show so far, won't mind you stealing one of his baseball caps? Seriously?
4:08 - "Come on, let's get out of here. Andrew gets crazy when I'm in here when he's not around." But he surely won't mind if we steal his hat, though.
4:20 - And now they've already gotten separated and Huggins is lost. They walked like 5 feet from her room to the brother's room. How did this happen?
5:10 - The first of many creepy/scary (for a small child) things: Huggins is in the washing machine while it's running, while what is essentially the Jaws theme plays in the background.
5:50 - Grandma looks in while Bridget curls Hugga's hair. Seems to have no problem with the freaky doll thing talking and looking right at her. Then again, I think Grandma already knew about the Hugga Bunch anyway, given that she was talking about them earlier herself.
7:13 - Argh, it's almost naked! >_>
8:12 -8:13 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill it! Kill it with fire!
Part 3:
0:30 - The shoe is embedded in the mirror... So, if she'd been a fraction of a second slower, she'd basically have been cut in half, I guess.
0:52 - Oh good. Another one. >_>
1:02 - Wait, Huggins couldn't tell the difference between a computer and a hat stand full of caps, but Hugsy knew it was a cap right off the bat. And yet, Huggins is the leader?
1:08 - Here, you can have the cap we stole!
1:20 - More of them!
1:33-1:36 - "We don't shake hands here!" "Well, what do you do?" Child, it's called HuggaLand. Your first two companions are named Huggins and Hugsy. Therefore, it should be pretty obvious that they use the Hitler salute to greet each other.
2:00-2:05 - Wow, its name is Tweaker.
2:40 - No. They're starting to sing. No! NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
4:10 - Ah, finally, it's over. *whew*
4:20 - "I'll take you there in my Hug Wagon! But I get to steer!" A Hug Wagon. ...'kay.
4:32 - So infant Huggas are called Huggets. ... ...'kay.
4:43 - "Fasten your Hug Belt." ... ... ...'kay.
4:48 - They're... singing again. ;_;
5:31-5:36 - What an asshole.
6:01-6:14 - No really, what an asshole.
6:40-6:43 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill it! Kill it with fire!
Part 4:
0:33-0:43 - If the fruit of the Youngberry tree disappears when it touches the ground, wouldn't that be rather... um... problematic for the tree to naturally propagate itself? Oh well.
0:50 - Oh, so there's only one of these trees? You don't say.
0:52 - The Country of Shrugs! Oh shit!
1:28-1:39 - So the only entrance into the land of Shrugs is... ...right there. Right next to the Bookworm's house. That's pretty convenient.
1:45 - Oh wait, it's a pit straight to Hell into which you have to fall to enter the land of Shrugs. Maybe not so convenient after all.
2:08 - "Across the Sea of Broken Glass." Jesus. I bet she wishes she still had her shoes now.
2:11-2:14 - There you go speaking your foreign languages to her again.
2:16-2:21 - "Good bye forever. You'll never come back. Have a nice trip. *slams door shut*" That's pretty optimistic.
2:52-2:58 - And now they're falling into the fiery pit to Hell.
3:00 - Well, to be the bottom of a fiery pit to Hell, that wasn't so bad after all.
3:22-3:27 - The laws of physics clearly do not apply here.
3:31-3:35 - Oh, it's a *side*walk so they have to walk *side*ways on it. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha ha ha ha ha... ha... ha... ...ha... *serious face*
3:46 - Okay, they walked for about 11 seconds and covered about 10 feet, and they're already within sight (and earshot) of the Sea of Broken Glass.
4:19-4:32 - "There's a sign in the sidewalk." "What does it say, Bridget?" (Um, can't you read it?) "Well, let's see. It says 'Gravity Changes Here.'" "What's gravity?" (Uh......) "Well, gravity means-OH SHIIIIIIIIIIII-"
4:48 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill it! Kill it with fire! Wait, it's shooting fire out of its nose! I don't think fire will be enough!
4:52-5:06 - "I don't think he's so tough." IT'S A GIANT WOOLY MAMMOTH THAT IS SHOOTING FLAMES OUT OF ITS TRUNK AND SMOKE OUT OF ITS TUSKS! "He just needs some love."
5:19 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill it! Kill it with fire! I don't care if it's friendly now! Kill it kill it kill it!
6:24 - So the evil queen essentially lives in Castle Grayskull.
6:32 - "Small people will be digested." Huh, I'd have said that's better than "Solicitors will be shot." but it's not keeping these guys out, so maybe not.
Part 5:
0:15 - And there, they've already found the Youngberry tree.
0:26 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill them! Kill them with fire!
0:30 - Sparklers?! NOOOOOOOOO!
0:47 - It's totally the evil queen from Snow White.
0:58-1:17 - "I'm Bridget Severson, and I'm an American citizen, and I don't have to kneel down to any old body. Hehe, excuse me, your majesty, but it's written in our Constitution." "Well, I am the Constitution around here, you little freckle face missy and don't you forget it!" First of all... "freckle face"? If the little girl has freckles, they certainly don't show up on Youtube at least. Second of all... the way the queen's voice broke at the end of the word "here" was just... weird. Still, I have to say that this is probably my favorite scene in the whole thing.
1:30 - "The answer is nooOOOOOOoo..." Seriously, what is wrong with this woman's vocal chords? o_O
2:22 - "I ALREADY SAID NEEEYYYEEEEOOOHH."
2:35 - "You were supposed to guard the CAStle." Very squeaky.
2:45 - "You quivering, cowardly mound of gelatIN*squeak*" Seriously, what the hell is up with her voice?
2:50 - "And what are these disGUSting lumps of FUr doing?!" Yeah, I'm totally going to mock her every single time she does it.
3:45-3:49 - The Youngberries must be disgusting. Oh, excuse me, I mean disGUSting.
3:52 - "She's eating one!" Thank you, Captain Obvious.
4:23 - "That exquisite moUth."
5:04-5:08 - Horrifically traumatizing. *nods sagely*
5:19 - What... did they kill the blue elephant?
6:00-6:35 - Well, he may not be dead, but he's certainly retarded, and he definitely has the stength to match. (...okay, yeah, that was pretty horrible, I admit.)
7:27 - Uh, her arms are obviously in a different position than they were a few seconds ago...
7:37 - And now they're back to their original position, or close to it.
8:01 - Wow, thank goodness the queen is incredibly stupid as well.
9:20 - Well, they killed the queen. Completely by accident, and probably unnecessarily. And they didn't even need fire to do it!
Part 6:
0:17 - And after all that, she trips and spills the Youngberries all over the floor, where they immediately disintegrate. Wait... one of them was still in the glass jar... why did that one poof? And really, how do they distinguish between dirt and carpet but not glass so as to know when to vanish, and... MST3K Mantra/Bellisario's Maxim.
0:41 - Sooooo... yeah. The entire adventure ended up being completely pointless. Hell, they told her that all Grandma needed was hugs and love and all that good stuff before she even went into HuggaLand in the first place. And, even so, I still have to question the efficiency of all that over the magical youth-restoring berries.
2:45 - The little girl being all weepy and huggy and wanting Grandma to stay? Bah who cares. But the little boy being all weepy and huggy and wanting Grandma to stay? THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING! Grandma, you can stay!
3:28 - Enter, the bitch.
4:13 - Yay! Another hat for us to steal!
4:36 - B-b-but I thought he would be okay with it!
And... that's it. Well, even though I made fun of it all the way through, it still wasn't all that bad, for what it was. I guess I can see how it would have won an Emmy for special effects. For a 1985 made-for-TV thing, they were pretty decent.
Yeah... I really don't see why this series of toys deserved its own TV special. My favorite Hugga was the mostly bald one with the tiny ball of hair on the top of its head, though.
Lastly, I'll leave you with this happy little fun-fact: The lady who played the grandma* apparently died the year after this was aired. Have a nice day!
* - And, once again, I just have to point out how absolutely retarded the IMDB "1. Click into the address bar, 2. Press enter, 3. Click reload" thing is. I will never stop complaining about this.
(/EDIT)
1) "Hugga Bunch? I don't remember that at all. Seems pretty kooky."
2) "Wait... magical de-aging berries that disappear if they touch the ground? That sounds... vaguely famailiar..."
3) *sees the picture of the queen keeling over and immediately dying of old age* "O_O Oh no! It can't be! I know I've seen that before!"
4) "And, yes, the berries ended up disappearing when they spilled to the ground! I... remember this. I watched this as a child!"
5) "NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
Actually, it wasn't all that bad from what I vaguely recall of it now, but I do remember it being a bit on the disturbing side, sure enough. I might actually watch it again when I get home this evening.
(EDIT)
So, I'm going to watch this and, just for the heck of it, take notes here (translation: make fun of it) while doing so.
Part 1:
0:35 - What is this little girl's accent? I can't quite place it. It sounds kind of Southern, maybe, but... not really? *shrug*
2:00-2:30 - Man they treat Grandma like crap...
2:40-2:45 - "Andrew's into electronic junk and baseball like all his friends." And that's bad... why?
3:05-3:45 - She's very nonchalant about strange noises coming out of her mirror.
3:52-3:54 - What a bitch.
5:02-5:55 - So, let's see: A pancake, three strawberries, a fried egg, three strips of bacon, maple syrup, and another pancake with peanut butter on it, slapped together to form some kind of monstrous sandwich. I am... intrigued by this. Torn between 1) sharing the brother's reaction of disgust and incredulity and 2) wanting to actually try it myself at the first available opportunity.
6:12-6:25 - "They're putting her out to pasture. Like a horse that's too old for anything, so they just put 'em in a field, let 'em eat and enjoy their life, until they get old and die." Wow, that's pretty harsh, especially coming from a kid that young.
7:05 - And then she goes off without taking even a single bite of that ridiculous pancake sandwich she made. That makes me sad, in a way. Then again, the eggs actually looked kind of fake when she was sliding them off the plate, so maybe it wasn't actually real food.
Part 2:
0:12 - The monkey's name is Garfabo? Eh, makes about as much sense as Sweet William for the penguin.
0:50-0:55 - Those are some of the weakest cries for help ever. I'd have been shrieking like a baby and running out of the house, maybe looking for a gun or a big rock or something along the way. >_>;
1:03 - And now she's apparently totally fine with the freakish abomination climbing out of her mirror. Okay. It's a kids' show. MST3K Mantra.
1:23-1:30 - She's apologizing to the horrifying nightmare for losing it when it came through the mirror. Okay.
1:33-1:40 - Mirrors soften up when people hug. Wow. You learn something new everyday. Bellisario's Maxim.
2:08-2:15 - From fleeing in abject terror from the terrifying munchkin to hugging it and giggling, in the span less than two minutes.
2:20 - It (and yes, I'm going to keep calling the Hugga Bunch things "it") just called a hug a "a real honest clenching clinger." Sounds more like something one would experience while sitting on the toilet. o_O
2:44-2:52 - Um, this girl has trouble with words like "criminy" and "crisis". It's certainly not helpful to start speaking an entirely different language to her.
3:01 - "I'll charm his teeth right out of his gums!" o_O
3:01-3:14 - No, seriously, this is starting to get creepy on a whole different level, one that wouldn't even have registered to me as a kid. o_O
3:57 - Really? You honestly think your brother, who has displayed nothing but dislike and disdain for you the entire show so far, won't mind you stealing one of his baseball caps? Seriously?
4:08 - "Come on, let's get out of here. Andrew gets crazy when I'm in here when he's not around." But he surely won't mind if we steal his hat, though.
4:20 - And now they've already gotten separated and Huggins is lost. They walked like 5 feet from her room to the brother's room. How did this happen?
5:10 - The first of many creepy/scary (for a small child) things: Huggins is in the washing machine while it's running, while what is essentially the Jaws theme plays in the background.
5:50 - Grandma looks in while Bridget curls Hugga's hair. Seems to have no problem with the freaky doll thing talking and looking right at her. Then again, I think Grandma already knew about the Hugga Bunch anyway, given that she was talking about them earlier herself.
7:13 - Argh, it's almost naked! >_>
8:12 -8:13 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill it! Kill it with fire!
Part 3:
0:30 - The shoe is embedded in the mirror... So, if she'd been a fraction of a second slower, she'd basically have been cut in half, I guess.
0:52 - Oh good. Another one. >_>
1:02 - Wait, Huggins couldn't tell the difference between a computer and a hat stand full of caps, but Hugsy knew it was a cap right off the bat. And yet, Huggins is the leader?
1:08 - Here, you can have the cap we stole!
1:20 - More of them!
1:33-1:36 - "We don't shake hands here!" "Well, what do you do?" Child, it's called HuggaLand. Your first two companions are named Huggins and Hugsy. Therefore, it should be pretty obvious that they use the Hitler salute to greet each other.
2:00-2:05 - Wow, its name is Tweaker.
2:40 - No. They're starting to sing. No! NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
4:10 - Ah, finally, it's over. *whew*
4:20 - "I'll take you there in my Hug Wagon! But I get to steer!" A Hug Wagon. ...'kay.
4:32 - So infant Huggas are called Huggets. ... ...'kay.
4:43 - "Fasten your Hug Belt." ... ... ...'kay.
4:48 - They're... singing again. ;_;
5:31-5:36 - What an asshole.
6:01-6:14 - No really, what an asshole.
6:40-6:43 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill it! Kill it with fire!
Part 4:
0:33-0:43 - If the fruit of the Youngberry tree disappears when it touches the ground, wouldn't that be rather... um... problematic for the tree to naturally propagate itself? Oh well.
0:50 - Oh, so there's only one of these trees? You don't say.
0:52 - The Country of Shrugs! Oh shit!
1:28-1:39 - So the only entrance into the land of Shrugs is... ...right there. Right next to the Bookworm's house. That's pretty convenient.
1:45 - Oh wait, it's a pit straight to Hell into which you have to fall to enter the land of Shrugs. Maybe not so convenient after all.
2:08 - "Across the Sea of Broken Glass." Jesus. I bet she wishes she still had her shoes now.
2:11-2:14 - There you go speaking your foreign languages to her again.
2:16-2:21 - "Good bye forever. You'll never come back. Have a nice trip. *slams door shut*" That's pretty optimistic.
2:52-2:58 - And now they're falling into the fiery pit to Hell.
3:00 - Well, to be the bottom of a fiery pit to Hell, that wasn't so bad after all.
3:22-3:27 - The laws of physics clearly do not apply here.
3:31-3:35 - Oh, it's a *side*walk so they have to walk *side*ways on it. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha ha ha ha ha... ha... ha... ...ha... *serious face*
3:46 - Okay, they walked for about 11 seconds and covered about 10 feet, and they're already within sight (and earshot) of the Sea of Broken Glass.
4:19-4:32 - "There's a sign in the sidewalk." "What does it say, Bridget?" (Um, can't you read it?) "Well, let's see. It says 'Gravity Changes Here.'" "What's gravity?" (Uh......) "Well, gravity means-OH SHIIIIIIIIIIII-"
4:48 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill it! Kill it with fire! Wait, it's shooting fire out of its nose! I don't think fire will be enough!
4:52-5:06 - "I don't think he's so tough." IT'S A GIANT WOOLY MAMMOTH THAT IS SHOOTING FLAMES OUT OF ITS TRUNK AND SMOKE OUT OF ITS TUSKS! "He just needs some love."
5:19 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill it! Kill it with fire! I don't care if it's friendly now! Kill it kill it kill it!
6:24 - So the evil queen essentially lives in Castle Grayskull.
6:32 - "Small people will be digested." Huh, I'd have said that's better than "Solicitors will be shot." but it's not keeping these guys out, so maybe not.
Part 5:
0:15 - And there, they've already found the Youngberry tree.
0:26 - Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Kill them! Kill them with fire!
0:30 - Sparklers?! NOOOOOOOOO!
0:47 - It's totally the evil queen from Snow White.
0:58-1:17 - "I'm Bridget Severson, and I'm an American citizen, and I don't have to kneel down to any old body. Hehe, excuse me, your majesty, but it's written in our Constitution." "Well, I am the Constitution around here, you little freckle face missy and don't you forget it!" First of all... "freckle face"? If the little girl has freckles, they certainly don't show up on Youtube at least. Second of all... the way the queen's voice broke at the end of the word "here" was just... weird. Still, I have to say that this is probably my favorite scene in the whole thing.
1:30 - "The answer is nooOOOOOOoo..." Seriously, what is wrong with this woman's vocal chords? o_O
2:22 - "I ALREADY SAID NEEEYYYEEEEOOOHH."
2:35 - "You were supposed to guard the CAStle." Very squeaky.
2:45 - "You quivering, cowardly mound of gelatIN*squeak*" Seriously, what the hell is up with her voice?
2:50 - "And what are these disGUSting lumps of FUr doing?!" Yeah, I'm totally going to mock her every single time she does it.
3:45-3:49 - The Youngberries must be disgusting. Oh, excuse me, I mean disGUSting.
3:52 - "She's eating one!" Thank you, Captain Obvious.
4:23 - "That exquisite moUth."
5:04-5:08 - Horrifically traumatizing. *nods sagely*
5:19 - What... did they kill the blue elephant?
6:00-6:35 - Well, he may not be dead, but he's certainly retarded, and he definitely has the stength to match. (...okay, yeah, that was pretty horrible, I admit.)
7:27 - Uh, her arms are obviously in a different position than they were a few seconds ago...
7:37 - And now they're back to their original position, or close to it.
8:01 - Wow, thank goodness the queen is incredibly stupid as well.
9:20 - Well, they killed the queen. Completely by accident, and probably unnecessarily. And they didn't even need fire to do it!
Part 6:
0:17 - And after all that, she trips and spills the Youngberries all over the floor, where they immediately disintegrate. Wait... one of them was still in the glass jar... why did that one poof? And really, how do they distinguish between dirt and carpet but not glass so as to know when to vanish, and... MST3K Mantra/Bellisario's Maxim.
0:41 - Sooooo... yeah. The entire adventure ended up being completely pointless. Hell, they told her that all Grandma needed was hugs and love and all that good stuff before she even went into HuggaLand in the first place. And, even so, I still have to question the efficiency of all that over the magical youth-restoring berries.
2:45 - The little girl being all weepy and huggy and wanting Grandma to stay? Bah who cares. But the little boy being all weepy and huggy and wanting Grandma to stay? THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING! Grandma, you can stay!
3:28 - Enter, the bitch.
4:13 - Yay! Another hat for us to steal!
4:36 - B-b-but I thought he would be okay with it!
And... that's it. Well, even though I made fun of it all the way through, it still wasn't all that bad, for what it was. I guess I can see how it would have won an Emmy for special effects. For a 1985 made-for-TV thing, they were pretty decent.
Yeah... I really don't see why this series of toys deserved its own TV special. My favorite Hugga was the mostly bald one with the tiny ball of hair on the top of its head, though.
Lastly, I'll leave you with this happy little fun-fact: The lady who played the grandma* apparently died the year after this was aired. Have a nice day!
* - And, once again, I just have to point out how absolutely retarded the IMDB "1. Click into the address bar, 2. Press enter, 3. Click reload" thing is. I will never stop complaining about this.
(/EDIT)
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Date: 2011-07-01 02:07 am (UTC)From:I do remember, however, thinking to myself, "Some toys are cool enough to have shows, but not these toys. Never these toys. This is dumb."